Real Madrid ready to make Bayern Munich’s David Alaba their fourth highest earner

According to a report by AS, Real Madrid are in pole position to sign David Alaba. Of course, if you’re a Bayern Munich fan, you knew that already. Alaba’s been heavily linked with a move to Madrid for well over a month now. They’re basically his dream destination at this point.

What the report DOES have is concrete numbers for Alaba’s salary offer, which we weren’t privy to before. According to AS, Madrid are offering the player 11m euros per year (net) on a four year deal, which is lower than Alaba’s demand of 13m euros and a five year deal. Manchester City have apparently bid €14m for the Austrian, and Liverpool are also in the mix (but have serious concerns about the wage bill).

The 11m euros per year would make Alaba Madrid’s 4th highest earner if he were to accept. Eden Hazard is their top earner at €14m per year, with Sergio Ramos and Karim Benzema sharing the 2nd spot with €12m a year each. However, Madrid are reportedly trying to negotiate Ramos down from his current salary to something around €11m, which is more or less what they’re offering Alaba.

While in a better state than Barcelona, Madrid are undoubtedly feeling the crunch financial crunch from the pandemic, coupled with renovations to the Santiago Bernabeu. With Florentino Perez also apparently looking to sign Kylian Mbappe in the summer, €11m might be as high as they’re prepared to go for Alaba. Whether the Austrian will accept this remains to be seen — it’s still a higher salary than what Bayern allegedly offered, but lower than what some Premier League clubs might pay. If he indeed has his heart set on Madrid, then he’s likely to take it. After all, this kind of opportunity doesn’t roll around very often.

One thing is for certain though — there’s no way he’s staying at Bayern. Those discussions are long dead.